Kings Waive Forward Who's About To Have Season Ending Surgery

Although he had his contract guaranteed last month, impending season-ending knee surgery will cost him his job, as fourth-year power forward KZ Okpala has been waived by the Sacramento Kings.

ESPN Sources: The Kings are waiving forward KZ Okpala, who’ll undergo a season-ending surgery. Okpala, the 32nd overall pick in 2019, played three years with Miami before joining Sacramento this season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 25, 2023

Okpala played 35 games with the Kings this season after signing a two-year contract last summer. He averaged only seven minutes per game, however, and just 1.3 points and 1.0 rebound. He had spent the previous three seasons with the Miami Heat.

He'll be undergoing surgery to help relieve bilateral knee soreness.

In his place, the Kings have decided to sign guard PJ Dozier after a back-to-back trial of two 10-day contracts.

The Kings are signing guard P.J. Dozier for the rest of the season, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN. Dozier had had consecutive 10-day deals with Sacramento. https://t.co/0UWRTmAhqF
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 25, 2023

The Kings are Dozier's fourth NBA team, as he's also played for the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics. He's averaged 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in his 109 career games.

Dozier had only gotten into four games with the Kings over the last 20 days, and just 2.5 minutes per contest. But he'd had a nice run in 11 G League regular-season games this season with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 20.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.1 minutes per game.